Decreased Sox2 Messenger RNA Expression in Basal Cell Carcinoma

Reza Ahmadi-Beni; Fatemeh Vand-Rajabpour; Mohamadreza Ahmadifard; Maryam Daneshpazhooh; Pedram Noormohammadpour; Javad Rahmati; Kambiz Kamyab Hesari; Mehdi Yaseri; Mina Tabrizi

doi:10.4103/ijd.IJD_387_18

Decreased Sox2 Messenger RNA Expression in Basal Cell Carcinoma

Indian J Dermatol. 2020 May-Jun;65(3):178-182. doi: 10.4103/ijd.IJD_387_18.

Authors

Reza Ahmadi-Beni¹, Fatemeh Vand-Rajabpour¹, Mohamadreza Ahmadifard¹, Maryam Daneshpazhooh², Pedram Noormohammadpour³, Javad Rahmati⁴, Kambiz Kamyab Hesari³, Mehdi Yaseri⁵, Mina Tabrizi¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
² Autoimmune Bullous Diseases Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
³ Department of Dermatology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁴ Department of General Surgery and Plastic Surgery, Razi Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Sox2, zeb1, and p21 have been implicated in aggressive behavior of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and melanoma. However, their expression level in basal cell carcinoma (BCC) has not been elucidated. We hypothesized BCC, contrary to SCC, and melanoma, could be a suitable model to study mechanisms which attenuate tumor metastasis. The aim of this study was to examine the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of sox2, zeb1, and p21 in BCC.

Materials and methods: Twenty-seven nonmetastatic BCC and twelve normal skin samples were evaluated using real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.

Results: The stemness marker sox2 demonstrated marked down-regulation, but zeb1 and p21 showed no significant change.

Conclusions: Here, we report a negative association between sox2 mRNA expression level and nonmetastatic BCC, thus, providing a likely explanation for the fact that normal skin is more reliant on sox2 than BCC. BCC may be using decreased sox2 mRNA to remain incognito from metastatic potential.

Keywords: Basal cell carcinoma; metastasis; sox2; squamous cell carcinoma.